48 
L A C E R T A. 
neceflary to add, that this fluid can never be produced 
in fuflicient abundance to extinguish even the fmalleft 
fire ; we hope therefore to hear no more of fuch cruel ex¬ 
periments. M. de Maupertuis could never get a falaman- 
der to open its mouth by any degree of irritation, but 
was always obliged to open it by force. As its teeth are 
extremely fmall, he found great difficulty in finding any 
animal with a {kin fufficiently delicate to be Scratched or 
wounded by them. I-le tried ineffectually to make them 
penetrate the flefh of a fowl, after being Stripped of its 
feathers, by prefiing them againft the Skin; but they were 
difplaced, inftead of penetrating; be at lalt, however, 
fucceeded in wounding the thigh of a fowl, after taking 
off the fkin ; and likewife contrived, in a fimilar manner, 
to wound the tongue and lips of a dog, and the tongue 
of a turkey cock, with the teeth of a new-caught falaman- 
der; but in none of thefe instances was there the fmalleft 
inconvenience produced. He afterwards made a dog and 
a turkey-cock Swallow fome Salamanders, either whole or 
cut in pieces, but without the leaft appearance of injury. 
Since that time, M. Laurenti has made additional experi¬ 
ments on the fame Subject; having obliged other lizards 
to bite Salamanders, and to fwallow fome of the milky li¬ 
quor which exudes from their pores. In all thefe in¬ 
stances, the lizards died very foon after; fo that the acrid 
exudation of the falamander is a mortal poifon to fome 
animals, particularly fmall ones, while it does not feem at 
all noxious to larger animals. 
It was long believed that the falamander was androgy¬ 
nous, each individual being capable of reproducing by 
itfelf, without the afiiftance of any fexual intercourse, as 
is the cafe in feveral fpecies of worms. This is not the 
moft abfurd of the fables that have been invented, relative 
to the natural hiftory of the falamander : and, though 
their manner of coming into the world is not quite fo fin- 
gular, it is Still particular, and deferves the notice of na¬ 
turalists much more than tliofe wonderful fables that have 
been fo long attributed to it; as it differs from that of al¬ 
most all the other lizards, and is fimilar to that of the feps, 
the chalcides, vipers, and feveral other ferpents. M. de 
Maupertuis, having opened feveral Salamanders alive, 
found in fome of them both eggs and young Salamanders 
perfectly formed. The eggs were collected in two longifli 
clusters, and the young animals were contained in two 
transparent tubes ; theSe were equally well formed as the 
old animals, and much more aftive. Thus the female 
falamander produces its young into the world alive, after 
having hatched them within her own body, in the fame 
manner with vipers. The young falamanders are at firSt 
black, almoft without any yellow fpots ; and in fome 
places they remain fo through their whole life; from which 
circumstance they have been fometimes considered as dif- 
tinct fpecies. 
The following extract of a letter, from D. Saint-Julien, 
a benedi&ir.e of the congregation of Cluni, gives fome 
very interesting obfervations on the manner in which the 
falamander is produced: “About the end of fpring 17S7, 
I found a fine fpecimen of the falamander, of that kind 
■which is called fcorpion in Lower Guienne, and which is 
there confounded with the true fcorpion. It meafured 
fomewhat more than eight inches in total length. Being 
very protuberant in the belly, I entertained great hopes 
of being able to throw fome light on the nature of the ge¬ 
neration of this animal, and immediately proceeded to 
dilfedt it alive, beginning at the anus. Having made an 
opening of about half an inch in length, a kind of bag 
protruded, which I at firft miftook for part of the alimen¬ 
tary canal, but I Soon perceived a very fenfible motion 
within it, and could even distinguish, through its thin and 
almoft tranfparent coats, that it contained certain fmall 
moving bodies, which I no longer hefitated in fuppofing 
the young of the animal. Having laid bare this bag, till 
I found its neck, I opened it in its whole length ; it was 
full of a famous fluid, in which the young animals were 
folded double, exaftly in the fame manner with the Small 
aquatic lizards which Spallanzani defcribes as included in 
the amnios. When this liquor had run out on the table, 
the young falamanders extended themfelves, and leapt 
about very briSkly. There were feven or eight of thefe; 
and, having examined them attentively, both with the 
naked eye and with the afiiftance of a magnifier, I could 
readily lee that they had much the appearance of minute 
filli, having two tolera'bly-long fins near the head. The 
head was large in proportion to the body ; having large, 
bright, prominent, eyes. There was no appearance what¬ 
ever of hind legs, or an)r thing elfe in their Stead. As 
the mother was found in water, and Seemed very near the 
time of bringing forth her young, it appeared to me that 
the water is the natural element of the new-born Salaman¬ 
ders, which idea was Strongly confirmed by their fifh-like 
Structure: I therefore placed them in a bowl of water, in 
which they Swam about very nimbly. I proceeded to ex¬ 
amine the mother, and foon discovered two fimilar bags 
with the one already mentioned ; all of them being di¬ 
vided from one another by Strangulations or narrow necks. 
On opening thefe bags, I procured a number of little ani¬ 
mals, exactly refembling thofe in the firft, and almoft 
equally well formed; they were divided into little clufters 
oS eight or ten together, without any intervening Septum, 
or Separating membrane. In a fourth bag, fimilar to the 
former, I found more of thefe animals, but not fo com¬ 
pletely formed ; almoft every one of thefe laft had a deep 
yellow protuberance on its right fide ; thefe all poffeffed 
motion, but were unable to leap about like the former 
more advanced fcetufes, and it was neceflary to aSfift them 
with pincers to get out of the bag. In a fifth bag I 
found a number of fimilar animalcules, of which only the 
posterior half of the body and the tail were diftinftly 
formed, which part had an evident power of motion ; the 
fore-part of the body consisting only of the yellow pro¬ 
tuberance juft mentioned. I extracted all together twenty- 
eight or thirty of thefe little animals, perfectly formed, 
which Swam about in the water, and continued to live 
for twenty-four hours ; the abortions, if I may So call the 
incomplete animalcules, funk to the bottom of the water, 
without Snowing any more Signs of life. Continuing my 
refearches beyond thefe five bags, which refembled a Sin¬ 
gle narrow gut divided by feveral ftriflures, I found two 
clusters of eggs ; each egg being of a Spherical form about 
a line in diameter, and very much refembling the yellow 
tubercles that I had Seen adhering to the half-formed 
fcetufes. I did not count the number of thefe eggs, but 
their difpofition was very fimilar to a bunch of grapes, 
the ftalk being fixed to the back-bone, immediately be¬ 
hind a deep brown membranous bag which hung a little 
behind the fore legs of the mother. This bag was evi¬ 
dently the ftomach, as I found it to contain Some fmall 
Snails, beetles, and blackiSh Sand.” 
34. Lacerta ftrumoSa, the ftrumous lizard : tail long 
and round ; a considerable protuberance on the brealt. 
This Species, which inhabits Mexico and South America, 
is of a pale grey colour, with brown Spots on the upper 
part of the body, and deep grey tranfverfe Streaks on the 
belly. The fore part of the breaft has a large protuber¬ 
ance, (very different from the gular pouch we have de- 
fcribed in Some Species,) pointing forwards, covered with 
fmall red granulations : from this the trivial name is de¬ 
rived, as it has fome refemblance to the bronchial fwell- 
ings fo common in fome districts among the Alps, called 
goitres. The tail is long, round, and of a livid colour, 
which becomes greenish about the root. This lizard is 
very active in its motions, neat in its appearance, and 
prettily coloured ; it is very familiar with mankind, run¬ 
ning about in houfes without apparent fear, and even 
climbing on the tables and on the people that fit round 
them. Its motions and attitudes are agreeable ; it feems 
to examine every thing that comes in the way with atten¬ 
tion, and has even the appearance of listening to what is 
Said. It climbs readily on trees, living on flies, Spiders, 
and other infects. When two of this ipecies meet, they 
fometimes 
